NATO member calls for use of force against Israel
The United Nations should approve the use of armed force to stop Israel’s war in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. He sharply criticized the Israeli operation in the Palestinian enclave and the ongoing airstrikes on Lebanon.
Almost a million Lebanese civilians have been displaced due to Israeli attacks, Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
At least 1,300 people have been killed in just over a week, according to the Lebanese authorities.
“Standing up for Palestine and Lebanon means standing up for humanity, for peace, for the culture of coexistence of different faiths,” the Turkish leader said.
In the case of Gaza, the UN General Assembly’s authority to recommend the use of force, as in the 1950 ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution, must be swiftly invoked.
The 1950 resolution states that if the UN Security Council fails to maintain international peace, the organization can recommend collective measures up to the use of armed force.
Erdogan accused “handful of radical Zionist extremists” of setting the “region and the whole world on fire.” The international community and the Islamic world should “take action for the peace of everyone in our region, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike,” he urged.
Türkiye severed trade ties with Israel earlier this year, promising to continue the boycott until the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza is fully restored. Ankara also joined South Africa’s ongoing case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, which accuses the Jewish state of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel launched its invasion of Gaza after Hamas and allied Palestinian armed groups carried out a surprise raid into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict erupted, according to the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza.
The IDF has recently intensified airstrikes against Hezobollah in Lebanon in response to the pro-Palestinian group’s continued cross-border rocket and mortar attacks. On Tuesday, Israel announced that it had begun “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It said the operation was necessary to make northern Israel safe for the return of displaced residents, forced to flee from Hezbollah rocket attacks.
